These are the richest billionaires...

It has been a good year for Germany, which surged past India into third place. India lost 11 billionaires mainly on the back of demonetisation, while Russia lost 12 billionaires despite a 30% appreciation of the ruble to the dollar.

As many as six South Africans feature on the list, the same number as in 2015.

South Africa saw Nicky Oppenheimer & family – of De Beers Fame – overtake Pepkor’s Chris Wiese as the country’s wealthiest man by a small margin.

South Africa, as has been the case for several years, is represented by six billionaires, who mostly profited from a stronger rand in 2016, as indicated below.

South Africa’s billionaires

2017 rank

2016 rank

Name

2016 Net worth (US$bn)

2017 Net worth (US$bn)

247

224

Nicky Oppenheimer

6.0

6.0

256

213

Christo Wiese

6.0

5.9

294

329

Johann Rupert

4.6

5.4

984

1308

Koos Bekker

1.6

2.2

1685

1964

Patrice Motsepe

1.0

1.3

1685

1964

Stephen Saad

1.0

1.3

Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world, despite only growing 1% to US$81 billion.

In December 2016, he launched a US$1 billion fund to invest in new forms of clean energy with aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero.

Warren Buffett held onto second place, increasing his wealth to US$78 billion, up US$10 billion after a surge in the Berkshire Hathaway share price.

So far Buffett has donated US$17 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, making him one of the world’s top 3 most generous philanthropists, along with Bill Gates and George Soros.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon, has broken into the Top 3 for the first time, and at one point threatening even to take the Number One slot away from Bill Gates.

His wealth surged to US$72 billion, up 37%. Bezos cashed out US$671 million from selling 1% of his stake in Amazon.

Amancio Ortega of Zara, has dropped down one place to fourth with US$69 billion. Ortega’s daughter Sandra Ortega Mera also makes the list with US$5.8 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest of the Top 10, shot up to fifth, his highest ranking yet, after a US$11 billion surge in his fortune to US$58 billion.

Zuckerberg, along with wife Priscilla Chan, announced he plans to give away 99% of his Facebook stock.

Larry Ellison, of Oracle, was sixth with US$48 billion, up 4%. Ellison invests into real estate around the world, including a Rhode Island estate and historic gardens in Kyoto.

Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecom tycoon, dropped out of the Top 5 after an 8% drop in wealth to US$46 billion. He hit major headwinds this year mainly due to the weaker Mexican peso.

Slim holds a 17% stake in The New York Times and announced the launch of a new television channel “made by Mexicans, for Mexicans” in the US this year.

The Koch brothers Charles and David held onto two slots in the Top 10 and are major supporters of the Republican Party.

With a net worth of US$42 billion, Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, saw his wealth increase by 13% to keep him in the Top 10.